Digimon Quest
by Nitrosparxx
Summary: While playing a game of Digimon, a group of college students are brought into the Digital World to foil the plans of a ruthless hacker!


Digimon Quest

-Prolouge-

_"Tame countless numbers of Digimon!"_

_"Explore vast open worlds!"_

_"Defeat evil monsters and collect power-ups!"_

_"Battle your friends and compete for the championship!"_

_"Power and digivolve your digimon partner!"_

_"And become the greatest tamer in the Digital World!"_

These were just some of the taglines that were used to describe the ever popular online RPG game: "Digital Monster."

The basic premise behind this fifteen year old game was simple: you were a "Tamer", a person who was in charge of caring and training a creature known as a "Digital Monster", or "Digimon" for short. The game came with a campaign mode and a free play mode where you could go on adventures, train your digimon partner and partake in worldwide competitions. The game was noted as being exceedingly popular and was estimated that nearly seven million players are subscribed to it.

…though there was much more to this game than at first glance…

* * *

It was late May, in Santa Monica. The joyful reign of spring was nearing its end as the heated and balmy summer was about to begin. The sun was high, and the heat was even higher. The sidewalk was unbearably hot and the horizon looked like it was warped and distorted. In the downtown district, a trio of college students decided to escape the sweltering heat by retreating to the cooler temperatures of their school's rec-room. The place was bustling with activity, with students playing online games in the computer area, taking up table tennis, and quite a few others participating in console games or handhelds.

Two of trio decided to take up a nice game of pool. One of them had a stocky, squashed build and head of dull blonde hair. He was positioned at one end of a pool table, facing his opponent; a taller male in blue clothes and wore a cap that covered his dreads. The shorter one grins smugly at his opponent. Looking down at the green felt board, the balls were all positioned in just the right spot for him to sink into the pockets. Just one, well place hit, and he'd reap his reward.

"Well now Sean, pay close attention here. Because grand master Devon Fleming is about to show you the shot of the century!" The stocky one proclaims, with a smug grin on his face.

His opponent chuckled, raising an amusing eyebrow at him. Him, shoot a perfect shot? With how easily distracted he could be? And in an environment where there was constant noise? Oh, he thought, sure he would. It seemed as likely as snowfall in the Sahara Desert. But the taller one decides to humor his friend.

"Oh, but of course Devon. Impress me with this _perfect_ shot of yours!" He sarcastically replies to his stocky opponent.

The stocky one leans his body down, closer to the felt table. He focuses his mind, attempting to tune out the noisy atmosphere. Steadily he lines up the shot. It's straight ahead. There is no table, no Sean, no noise, nothing. Just him, and the ball. Before he pulls back, he glances up briefly; grinning ever so smugly at his friend.

"Heh, heh, just you watch Sean! You'll be eating those words after this! Now then steady...steady..." his hands wobbles slightly, "steady...and..."

He jabs the cue forward, striking the cue ball and sending on its way towards its spherical targets. A pity though that it fails to connect, causing the white orb to bounce off the side and send it straight down a pocket. Devon frowns at this unforeseen outcome while his friend chuckles at his loss.

"Ha ha ha, well bravo Devon! I'm sure Shane Van Boening would be very impressed with your skill!"

"Oh, hardy har, you hush up ya long haired hippie. Even the greatest players make mistakes!"

The, "long haired hippie" moves into position, getting some chalk to prepare his cue stick.

"You know Devon, for an engineer student, your hands have terrible aim!"

"Oh shut up, Mendeleev, and get on with your move already!"

As the two of them continued to banter back and forth, their voices soon melting and blending with all the other chatter in the rec-room, their other friend was sitting at a nearby table, all to himself. He wore a yellow shirt and was sporting a black beanie on his head. The busy and bustling atmosphere of the rec-room was merely white noise to him as he sat there, hunched over and attending to a strange red device. It was rectangular with three yellow buttons to the right of a small LCD screen. On the screen was a creature of sorts, made up of small black pixels. It gleefully danced around in delight as he pressed the buttons to interact with the creatue. He smiles as he fiddles with the device, gazing into it as if he was in a world far beyond this one.

This of course was his Digivice. He and his two friends, Sean and Devon had one as well, albeit, Sean's was blue and Devon's was orange. The digivice was a simple keychain that players of the Digital Monster game could use to train their little digimon patners when they were not playing the game directly. One simply plugged it into a USB port and transferred their desired partner over to the device, so they could travel with their player wherever they went.

This quiet eighteen year old student, in particular was quite invested into the game. His name is Takashi Matsuda, and he was absolutely dedicated to the Digital Monster game. He knew just about all there was to know about the game. Takashi knew how to raise digimon properly, how to keep them happy and healthy and how to make them stronger with out the aid of items and powerups. He's played virtually every patch to the game, all the way from the games release 2000 up till its most recent update in the present. Though his friends sometimes teased him about his digital monster obsession, they nevertheless respected his absolute mastery of the game. After all, the game is what brought all three of them together.

He continued to stay there at the table, the sounds around him all fully tuned out. There was no rec-room or table, or even noise. All attention was on this digivice, and his digital companion on the screen. He smiles lightly, as he presses buttons to feed his precious digital partner. His eyelids half close, and his minds drifts. It's as if he's off in different realm altogeth-

"Hey Takashi, you hear what this dork over here is saying?"

The sound of Takashi's name being called suddenly derails his train of thought. All the noises he had tuned out came flooding back at him, as if someone just dumped a bucket of cold water in his face. He slowly puts the device down as he turns to face his two friends. The stocky one chuckles at his quiet friend as he brushed some chalk off of his red shirt. It was so like him to be lost in his own little world.

"Well, welcome back to reality Takashi! Did you hear anything I said?"

"Heh, no unfortunately. Sorry Devon, I kind of zoned out there for a second."

"Heh! S'all good Takashi." Devon replies, leaning his bulk against the pool table "Anyways, I was just having a _delightful_ chat with Sean over here, and he thinks that his chemistry degree is more important than mine! So tell me, Tack, you're pretty un-bias in this argument. What do you think?"

Takashi cracks a soft smile and chuckles to him self, leaning his head down. It was so like Devon to be like this, all cocky and fired up. Always out to prove just how great he is to everyone. He was always the bright, boisterous ray of hilarious sunshine, to Takashi's quiet and gentler demeanor. Takashi slowly looks up, shooting a glance towards Sean and giving him just a little wink before replying to his stocky friend.

"Well, I wouldn't know about that Devon. I guess without engineering I would have to walk everywhere. But without chemistry...heck, I don't think I could be an art major! Sorry Devon, but I'm giving this point to Sean."

Sean chuckled at his overweight friend, who was currently giving a betrayed look at Takashi. Of all the nerve, he thought! His best friend, betraying him? He scoffs holds his arms at his sides as he shuffled his way around the pool table.

"What!? You're choosing him over me? Jeez! _Et tu, Matsuda? _Betraying me to Mr. Weston over here, Yeesh, what a terrible fate that has been…oh wait, hang on a moment."

A sharp, and piercing beeping noise suddenly went off, cutting through the thick noise of the rec-room. The stocky one placed his cue-stick down, and immediately drove a hand down into the pocket of his beige cargo shorts. He knew what that sound was. All three of them knew; it was the sound of the digivice going off. After grasping the object in his hands, he brings it up out and examines it. He presses a button on the side to have a look. The complacent expression on his face soon turned into childlike giddiness as he chuckled to himself.

"Ha ha, yes! Diana gained a level! All _right_!" He proclaimed in excitement.

This soon prompted for Sean to dig in his jean pocket for his digivice. Takashi smiled and congratulated his bulky friend's achievement.

"Well, good job there Devon! At this rate, you won't lose so easily against Takashi!"

Devon scoffed and laughed at Sean's remark. Takashi and Devon always had something of a mild rivalry. Devon always tried to beat Takashi at his own game, but Devon was much too hasty in his play style. Instead of playing the game methodically, and carefully training and balancing his digimon, he'd just train his partner, gain a few levels here and there. Not really buying into the virtual pet idea of the game, aside from feeding and nurturing his partner whenever it needed it. He never bothered to truly immerse him self into the game and really take care of his digimon the way Takashi did. Takashi saw the creatures as being like a pet or a close friend that needed the guidance of their tamer. To Devon, they were mere game characters; bits of data that, while simulating emotions and other behaviors, were not alive. Neverthless, Devon would still try his best to beat his friend. They may have mocked him, and called him reckless, but he was still very determined.

Sean checked in on his digivice, to check on his digimon partner: Tyson. On the screen, a faint, pixilated image of what seemed to be a bi-pedal dog danced in glee, signifying that he too gained a level. Sean smiles as he pocked the digivice again and went to put up his cue-stick. Takashi got up, he too stuffing his digivice into the pocket of his black jeans. He yawned, stretching his arms and arching his back, creating a soft snapping noise. Outside, the vicious summer sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon. The noise of the rec-room started to die down as patrons started to shuffle their way out the exit.

"Aah, well it's getting a bit late. Oh, that reminds me, who's turn is it to battle tonight?" Takashi asks as his muscles relax.

"Um...hmm...Well lets see here, me and Devon faced against each other last time so...I think it's you and Devon's turn tonight!"

"Ah, perfect! That does me fine! After all, this'll be the perfect opportunity to finally beat Master Matsuda over here!"

Takashi chuckles.

"Hah! Well, we'll see about that. Anyways, why don't we head back to my place? It's close by so we don't have to travel as far."

The other two agreed with Takashi's plan, and soon they headed out of the rec-room and back into the outside world. It was customary for the trio to hold a little tourney amongst themselves after the day ended and the night begun.

It was a short little bus ride from the campus and down one of the city blocks to get to Takashi's apartment. By now, night had fallen in Santa Monica. The temperature had decreased dramatically, and soon the whole city was lighted up like a torch. The night dwellers all came out to do their night time rituals, and the daytime people had gone home to sleep. The three males walk at a steady pace back to Takashi's apartment, no rush or hurry. It was the weekend, and the semester was long over at this point. They took their time, enjoying the cooler night time air.

After a good five or six minutes of walking, they were at the apartment complex and even soon were at Takashi's apartment. It was a small one bedroom studio apartment, with the kitchen, living room (rather, living area) and bed all near each other with out walls. From the entrance was the kitchen which consisted of a stove, fridge, a microwave and a coffee pot which rested on the countertop beneath the cupboards. Ahead of that was the "living area" which consisted of a futon resting up against a dresser, a coffee table in front of it, a flat screen TV opposite of the futon and a chair plus a beanbag. Opposite the entrance to this place was a sliding glass door, leading to a balcony, and to the right of the living area was the double sized bed, adorned in dark blue sheets.

Almost immediately as they set foot in this homely place, they went to work. Placing their bags down on the tiled floor, they get their laptops out and prepare for some digital monster hijinks. Takashi heads to his usual spot on the futon, Devon takes the beanbag, and Sean just stands near the kitchen countertop. They all open their laptops up and begin their nighttime routine. As the game loaded itself up on their laptops, upbeat techno music began filling the quiet air of Takashi's apartment.

"Yo Tack, what's your Wi-Fi password again? I can't remember" Devon asks as he types away.

"Uh, it's dgmnrchmps. All lowercase and all one word."

"Heh, heh, alrighty then! Lets get this bad boy on the road! You ready to taste defeat, Takashi?"

"Ha! Well a good luck to you as well Devon!"

As trio chattered among themselves, getting their sessions all set to go, all three of them were completely oblivious to what happened inside of the game. You see, Digital Monster may have been just a game to the human world; nothing more than a pastime for people to play and entertain themselves. But this couldn't be even farther from the truth. Behind the screens and the menus, underneath its façade of being a "game" and beyond all the ones and zeros that made up its coding was a world far beyond the human one. A world where creatures roamed freely among alien landscapes. A world were spectacular battles were held. A mysterious realm where strange and fantastic events took place. This was the Digital World: a world where digimon existed and thrived. A place where digimon lived out their lives and trained their bodies and spirit to the best of their abilities. A world untouched by mankind, and hidden completely hidden away from them. And at this particular moment, as the three started up their session, a far more intense scene was about to unfold down in this mysterious world.

In a grassy area, walled off from the surrounding plains, a sleek, yellowish figure awaits on a bench. She straightens her black cashmere vest, and fixes her purple scarf in preparation for this little event. A large paw with a purple sleeve draped over her arm moves upwards and runs through fur on top of her head and canine ears. This was a digimon, in particular a renamon. But not just any ordinary renamon. This was Takashi's trusted partner, "Vixen." At the moment she was readying herself for the little tourney her tamer was preparing. She sits quietly, staring off into the distance and letting the gentle breeze run through her yellow fur. She began prepping her mind and body for this battle. Even though it was merely a friendly match, and the consequences of it, ultimately meaningless, it did not matter to her. To her, every battle whether for entertainment or for justice were all important and demanded full concentration at all costs.

As the vested renamon sits and waits, letting her mind stay focused on the task at hand, a small robotic creature walks up to her. His head was like a television, and his body was dark greenish hue. On the digimon's television like head was a chart showing her opponent, and the conditions of the field. He speaks, his voice monotone and mechanical.

"Your opponent will be Devon's Diana. Species: Lekismon. Level: Champion. The battle will take place in the grassy fields. Whether conditions: sunny with a light breeze. Conditions favorable too all digimon. The battle will begin in five minutes."

"Very well Monitamon. Thank you." The vested fox replies. Her voice is warm, and soft. Yet it was curt and to the point.

With his job done, the green digimon waddles off back from where it came. Vixen rises stretches her back, extending her arms high above her head. An audible crack is heard, as she reached the peak of her stretch. Her tail flicks from side to side and she closes her eyes to begin her short pre-battle meditation. Her mind is clear, and focused. There is nothing near her, save for the gentle breeze blowing by and the soft sound of the grass rustling beneath her feet. It is just her and-

"Hi Vixen! You ready for this?"

The sudden mention of her name breaks through her meditation like a sledge hammer. The golden fox's eyes shot open and immediately darted towards the source of the sound. Oh, of course, she thought. It was Diana, in all her bubbly, lapin glory. The tall rabbit digimon smiled warmly from behind the metallic crescent shaped mask she wore. She waved a gloved hand at her canine friend; a kind gesture of goodwill and sportsmanship towards her canine pal. Though she tried to hide her displeasure, the vested renamon's tail flicked from side to side in agitation and her cold blue eyes were firmly focused on the lekismon. Diana blushed shyly in embarrassment, realizing she just disturbed her friend's meditation.

"Eh, heh...s-sorry Vixen. I just wanted to wish you good luck out there on the field! I'm sure it'll be a great battle!"

The lapin digimon outstretches her other hand to insinuate a handshake. While Vixen might have been annoyed at the lekismon for interrupting her meditation, she nevertheless understood the importance of good sportsmanship. She slowly brings her paw up and takes a firm yet gentle grip of her lapin friend's hand, shaking it twice.

"And good luck to you as well Diana. I'm sure today's battle will be quite thrilling" Showing a rare soft side to her stoic composure, she smiles lightly at her lapin friend.

The blue and white rabbit smiled and nodded, though in her mind she knew she couldn't take on Vixen. Even though Diana was a champion leveled digimon, and definitely stronger than her rookie counterpart, she just wasn't as disciplined or as well trained as she was. Soon, a bell went off, signaling for all combatants to head to the head to the battle stage. The two digimon bow to each other and make their way to the field. A pair of monitamon await for them with some sort of visor to wear. The device went over their right eye and was green in color. This was how all digimon with a tamer understood commands; their tamers in the real world would input them in and they would follow as instructed.

Meanwhile, the pair of males in the real world were well underway with their match. The sound of plastic keys tapping away filled the air as they engaged in their tournament. On their screens, their digimon partners- represented as a pair of 3D models- stood face to face against each other, awaiting their tamer's commands. A pair of life bars appear over their heads. Vixen's at 120hp and her lapin friend's at 214hp. Devon smirks ever so smugly from behind his laptop, so sure he would finally get Takashi at his own game.

"Alright, now we're cookin' with gas! Hey, Tack, you go first this time."

"Oh, really? You sure about that Devon?"

"Yes! Absolutely! After all, you're gonna need all the advantages you can get!" Devon smiled smugly from behind his laptop. He just _knew_ tonight was the night that he'd best his friend at his own game.

Takashi simply smirks back at his friend. Poor Devon, he thought. He just never learns. The digimon wiz goes to work on his end, his fingers typing calmly at the keyboard. Down below in the digital world, the renamon squatted down and then sprang up into the air with one elegant motion. She brought her hands inward, and then out to her sides as bright white particles formed seemingly out of nothing.

"Diamond Storm!" She yells. This was Takashi's typical opening move; launching this attack first to inflict some light damage before rushing in for some hard hitting attacks.

Well, his opponent was ready for this, and on his command, Diana hopped left, right and back to dodge the swarm. Her strong lapin legs allowing her to move as quickly- if not even quicker- than her canine friend. The rabbit digimon soon conjures up a bow and arrow made entirely out of ice. Devon chuckles to himself in the real world, thinking this strategy was ever so clever; he knew Takashi would have done this move first and was going to take every advantage of this. Down in the digital world, Diana takes aim with her bow; pointing directly towards Vixen.

"Tear Arrow!" She calls out as she lets loose of the spearhead. It zips forward at incredible speed towards Vixen's chest. The airborne digimon's eyes widened a bit. She curls her body in and drops down to the ground, but not before the arrow lighty grazed her shoulder, causing a small trail of red data to leak from her shoulder. Two hit points are deducted from her HP bar. Thinking quickly, Takashi in the real world goes into action, punching up some commands for his partner to follow. The commands flow into her visor, and she immediately goes to work, rolling and then leaping forward with a fist outstretched. Her paw glows in a white light.

"Power Paw!" She shouts as she attempted to punch her opponent. But alas, ever crafty, Devon quickly typed up for his partner to dodge. This allowed the lapin digimon the chance to leap up give a swift kick to the canine's chest. A hefty twenty points of damage was taken from Vixen's life bar. The yellow digimon coughs dryly as she flew backwards. She tumbles and then lands squarely on her back, breathing heavy and gasping for air. Well it was looking as though Takashi might just lose. Vixen was down to ninety-eight hit points and her opponent was still at full health. Devon chuckled to himself in smug glee. Yes! Tonight was his night! Tonight was when he would finally defeat Takashi. Even Sean was impressed with his stocky friend's incredible skill. But Takashi was calm and cool, showing no signs of worry. Devon may have had the upper hand here, but Takashi had something Devon lacked: patience.

Ever confident in his abilities, Devon types up the command for his lapin partner to lunge forward with another mighty kick. And had it not been for Takashi's savvy mind, his opponent might just have finished him off right here and now. But of course, Takashi had anticipated this move, and acted accordingly. His digital partner lied there on her back, right until just before the lapin's large legs made contact with Vixen's chest. In a swift elegant movement, she hopped back and landed on her feet. Bringing her arms in, she summoned hundreds of tiny shards again, and then unleashes them on her opponent.

The lapin digimon may have been swift, and intellegent, but there was no way she could have seen this coming. Each one of those shards struck her all over, deducting ten hit points of her health bar. And since she was so close this caused the digimon to be stunned. Devon snarled in frustration at this predicament, furiously taping his keyboard.

"What!? No! Damn it, c'mon Diana, _come on!_"

As Devon yelled at his laptop screen, helpless to do anything as his partner stood there dazed. A row of commands came into Vixen's visor, and she immediately sprung into action, dealing two hefty punches to the dazed digimon. One contacted Diana's face and the other to her stomach. The punch to the lekismon's stomach was a critical hit, causing her take more damage than usual. In total, Vixen's opponent had lost thirty-two hit points from the power paw assault, bringing her health down to one-hundred and seventy-two hit points.

The tourney continued on with the two digimon exchanging some hits here and there. Diana would fire off a few arrows at her canine friend, and Vixen would pelt back with some diamond storm attacks from afar. Soon, nearly forty minutes pass. Vixen was down to five hit points. Her opponent down to twelve. They stand facing each other, panting and leaking red bits of data. The stare at each other awaiting their orders. Their bodies were pretty banged up and covered with bruises, or at least as close as bruises they could get, being that they were digital creatures. In the real world, the tension was high and the pressure was on even for Sean who wasn't even battling. Devon was now so close to beating Takashi, and he was going to do anything to achieve his goal. His hands are shaky, as he contemplates his next move. His feet tap furiously, helping him think of something. So close. Just one decision would determine the outcome of this battle. Devon grunts slightly out of frustration and boldly makes his move. He types in a command, and his digimon partner soon summons a pair of bubble like spheres. She fires them forward towards the canine digimon.

"Moonnight bomb!" She cries out, hoarsely. This right here could have been the move to end the match. The move that would had Devon finally beating Takashi. But sadly, Takashi still had something up his sleeve that Devon failed to pick up on: patience. As the two orbs flew towards the canine digimon, Vixen held her arms close together and in front of her face. Suddenly, like magic her body waved and faded out before vanishing into thin air. The two orbs flew on past and dissipated a few feet away. Diana and her tamer were both shocked at this bizarre move.

"What the heck!? Where did she-"

But before he could finish his sentence, Vixen materialized behind Diana. Wasting no time, she delivers a hard power paw to her friends back. The lekismon's mouth hung agape, as if she was screaming, but no sound came out. Fifteen points of damage deducted, and Diana fell forward blacking out. The victory bell sounded; Vixen was the winner. Devon was naturally upset, though Sean chuckling at Takashi's impressive maneuver.

"What!? _What?! _No! How!? What the-...damn it Takashi! You cheated, I swear to god you cheated!

"What? No I didn't! I just used Vixen's Fox Fold move to make her invisible! It's totally allowed!"

"Yeah right, you dweeb! Gosh! I was so _close_, you _jerk!_"

Meanwhile down below, a pair of monitamon waddle up to the pair of combatants and hand them a pair of objects. They looked like golden floppy disks, both labeled with, "Full Recovery." Vixen takes hers and places it on her chest. The disk glows in white light then disappears, wrapping her body in light. The scratches and bruises she endured disappeared and her body was returned to full health. The barely conscious lekismon does the same and is quickly recovered back to peppy and bubbly self. It felt like a huge burden was lifted from her shoulders. The vested renamon leans down and gently helps her champion leveled friend to her feet, who gave her a friendly little chuckle.

"Ha ha, what a match! That was great! Gosh you're so strong Vixen." She removes her green visor and hands it back to the monitamon. "I guess I've got a long way to go, before I'll be as strong as you are..." Diana hangs her head slightly, somewhat disappointed in her combat abilities.

Vixen nods, shaking her friends hand. Her keen senses, she noticed the small pang of disappointment her lapin friend felt. After discarding the visor and handing it to the monitamon, she pats her friend gently on the back.

"There's no need to be discouraged, Diana. After all, you fought quite valiantly out there, and perhaps fought even better than before. You are still growing after all, despite being of different levels. I'm sure you'll soon be an excellent warrior, my friend."

Diana lifted her head and smiled warmly at her canine friend.

"Aww, thank you Vixen! I guess you're right: I'm still growing and getting stronger every day. Heck, I remember before I didn't even stand a chance against you!"

The two ladies share a laugh as they walk off back to the resting area.

As the night went on in the real world, the trio went about doing their thing. They played around in the game, training and leveling up their digital partners. Sean was busily training his digital partner; working on making Tyson a close combat specialist. Takashi was tending to his beloved digimon in his usual, attentive manner. He'd work on training her on the skills she excelled at, and having her relax in between sessions. The stocky one on the other hand had other ideas, as he fiddled about in the game. He was now sitting next to Takashi and was browsing around the in-game shop. But it wasn't items this user was looking for. Nor was he looking for attack boosters or defense buffers. No, he was looking for something much more special.

The quiet one was once again lost in his little world. His mind tuning out all the plastic keyboard typing and mouse clicks. It was just him and his digital partner, who as he fed her a fresh peach did a little dance and gave him a, "thank you!" in the form of a dialogue box. Takashi smiles lightly, bringing his cursor over to his furry friend to give her a gentle stroke on the head. Takashi always felt as though there was more to his beloved digital pet than what he saw through the screen. Believing that something more lied beyond the game itself. But of course he'd dismiss it as him just fantasizing. It was only a game after all, right? He resurfaces from his little daydream to glance over at his stocky friend. Looking over at his friend's laptop screen he could see that Devon was researching some egg-like objects. Ah! Of course, Takashi thought. He must be looking at digi-eggs, no doubt planning on raising another digimon.

"Oooh, trying to find a new digimon partner, Devon?" Takashi asks, just out of curiosity.

"Ah, I was wondering when Devon would finally give up and start from the beginning!"

"Oh shut up Sean! I'm just trying to make a new digimon to experiment on. You know, work on different methods, see what makes it stronger or weaker."

"Why don't you just do that with Diana? She seems pretty open for some experimentation."

Devon shrugs.

"Meh, I think I've kind of gotten here to where I want. If I just totally redo how I train her, I might just lose all the work I've done on her, y'know?"

Takashi nods and Sean smiles as they went back to their games to work on their partners. The stocky one continues to peruse the in game storefront, looking at all kinds of eggs. Some have spotted designs, other bore stripes, and some were completely blank. Devon taps the sides of his laptop, thinking carefully. Which one to choose? One of these eggs carried a digimon that could potentially defeat Takashi and maybe even make him succeed better in the game. But this was just taking to long. Chances are, he would be here all week, carefully looking at different eggs in vain. In a last minute decision, he simply forgoes the eggs, and just asks the game for a random digimon. Sean was quite amused at how serious he seemed during all of this; browsing the colorful storefront like it was the most important decision of his life. Devon simply scoffs at his friend's lack of faith in him.

"Man, that some decision eh Devon? I've seen you less stressed working on boat engines than this!" Sean says with a laugh

"Oh be quiet Sean! Haven't you learned by now? Digimon is serious business, yo! I ain't takin' my chances!"

He goes back to his screen, hundreds of digimon silhouettes flash across as the randomizer gets to work. After a few seconds of digimon of zooming by, it soon slows down and halts on one: a small, furry creature sporting a thick black hide that looked like something a Feudal Japanese soldier might wear. On the creature's head was a red gem, embedded in a bronze tiara. The digimon was shaped like a dinosaur, or dragon, and its body was hunched over. Below the image of the digital creature was a small message that stated, "Congratulations! You new partner is…Ryudamon!"

Devon smiled, quite giddy at the adorable little digimon. How cute it looked, he thought! And yet behind the digital creature's adorable exterior, he could tell this little digimon had some great potential behind him.

"Oh my gosh, would you just look at how adorable this little guy is? _Aww!_" Devon cooed, bring his cursor over and rubbing the forehead of the digimon. Although it was just an image and not the actual digimon in question.

"Aww, don't you worry little guy! Daddy's here. Daddy's got you! He'll take good care of you!" He spoke in a silly voice.

Takashi and Sean were both snickering from behind their laptop screens at Devon's silly behavior. The stocky one may not have been the best tamer in the world, but if there was on thing he was really good at- besides his engineering abilities- it was his uncanny ability to brighten their day.

"Wow, trying to outdo Takashi here, are ya?" Sean chuckles.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

Takashi's attentiveness was something his two friends teased him about from time to time. Devon leans back, pointing a finger at his dreadlocked friend.

"Oi, stay out of this, you mad scientist! Besides, you heard Takashi say it before: you gotta treat the digimon like they're pets!"

"Yeah but you see, the difference is that Takashi doesn't look like a moron when he plays!"

This prompts Devon and Sean to engage some silly banter as per usual. At that moment a sharp, shrill noise cuts through the two young males chatter. A sound that Takashi's ears were quite sensitive to, and one he knew very well. It was his digivice going off but this was highly unusual. His digimon partner wasn't on the device, she was in the game. Why would it beep if there wasn't a digimon on it? He delves a hand into his pockets to retrieve it. What was going on? He brings the digivice out and to his confusion, there's nothing on it's screen. No lights, no digimon, anything. It was merely beeping incessantly, with out reason. Not even shutting the device off worked. The quiet one continued to examine his digivice, puzzled as to what could be causing this reaction. Soon the relentless beeping reaches the ears of his other two friends.

"Hey Takashi, will you feed or heal Vixen already? That beeping's giving me a headache!" Devon whined

"It-…It won't shut off! I can't get it to turn off!"

Devon and Sean look on confused. Before the two could say anything their digivices start to go off as well. The room was now filled with the irritating sound of high pitched beeping, and there didn't appear to be a way to make it stop. As the chaotic and annoying beeping continued, a sudden window popped up on Takashi's laptop. It was a standard report message, but it only bore one word: "Enter?" The quiet one looks down and contemplates this strange message. Enter? Enter what? What is it asking for? There is only one option in the message window and it was, "ok." Every fiber in Takashi's body was leery of this ominous and mysterious message and yet…and yet he felt so compelled to click the "ok" button. Something was just egging him on to press it rather than shut the computer down and deal with it tomorrow.

With some hesitation and a shaky hand, he clicks the "ok" button. Everything seems to stop for a moment. The annoying beeping noise seemed to fade into nothingness as he stared into his computer. Then all of a sudden, all the other windows closed. His game closed, and the screen when to black. It was soon replaced with a the image of a greenish vortex that pulsed and throbbed as it spun around. Takashi raised an eyebrow at this bizarre screensaver. He was about to restart his computer, when he felt an odd sensation. It was a curious feeling, like he was weightless, or was flying despite the fact he was sitting down. He quickly looks down at his hand. His eyes widen with fear as he sees what is happening to them; they were glowing a brilliant white color and seemed to be dissolving. Disapating into thousands of tiny pieces, and then getting sucked into the vortex on his computer screen.

Takashi tries to yell; cry out in fear, but there are no words. His mouth is open and agape but no sound comes out. He is helpless as his entire body starts to dissolve and get sucked into the vortex on his laptop screen. His two friends rise up and try to save them, but the same dissolving happens to them too. The stocky one visibly trembles with fear and Sean merely looks on, his eyes wide with terror. After a few seconds they feel themselves get pulled into…something. It was hard to say. They were unsure what was going on, but they were moving, whether it was flying or falling. Takashi closes his eyes in fear, hoping everything would be okay. When he slowly lifts his eyelids, all he sees is himself and his friends, all spiraling and tumbling down a long green tunnel. His whole world spins around and around, his body helplessly being flopped about like a cat's play toy. He closes his eyes again and braces his body for whatever might happen next.

The three of them continue to tumble and spiral out of control, feeling themselves fall down,

…down…

…down…

…down…

…and down still…

Minutes tick away feeling like an eternity for the three males…

And then suddenly…

***THUMP***

…It all stops…


End file.
